


Not Sick, Just A Little Hoarse

by racheesi



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Teachers, M/M, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-26 02:41:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21943201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/racheesi/pseuds/racheesi
Summary: High school principal Gabriel Landeskog is NOT sick, thank you very much.But if his vice-principal wants to tuck him in and take care of him, he's not exactly going to complain... much.
Relationships: Erik Johnson/Gabriel Landeskog, Pre-Relationship - Relationship
Comments: 10
Kudos: 96





	Not Sick, Just A Little Hoarse

**Author's Note:**

> If you found this from googling your name, RUN. This is entirely a work of fiction. Thanks to everyone who beta-ed for me!

“You need to leave. _Now_,” Erik Johnson, backstabber, worrywart, heathen, and pain in Gabe’s ass, said, walking into Gabe’s office without so much as knocking.

Dr. Gabriel Landeskog shook his head, not even looking up from his desk. He had a meeting to prepare for. If he was going to square up at the school board meeting against Superintendent Bettman and his merry band of idiots, he had to be prepared. His preparations had to be prepared. His preparations’ preparations had to be prepared.

EJ sat down on the threadbare cushion of the rickety chair across from Gabe’s desk. He was probably due for a new set of furniture years ago, but he always managed to shuffle things around to get the money to go toward a teacher who needed it more than he did.

At EJ’s sigh, Gabe finally looked up. He knew that sigh. It was the same sigh he gave misbehaving children when they were called to the Vice Principal’s office. It was usually followed by some variation on the ‘I’m not mad, just disappointed’ speech. Gabe’s red, watery eyes narrowed, ready to fight.

“Don’t even,” Gabe croaked, then the scratchiness in his throat became too much, after just the two words and he was thrown into a coughing fit. He didn’t even notice EJ get up and come around his desk until there was a large, warm hand rubbing slow circles into his upper back.

EJ had been the vice principal at P. Roy Memorial High School (he wasn’t dead, the school board just screwed up when they named it and it stuck), since before Gabe started as an ESL teacher years ago. He’d been a mentor for Gabe as a new teacher, always making sure he had what he needed, even if what he needed was someone to vent to over wine after a long evening of marking. After Gabe had gotten his masters, then his PhD in educational administration, he’d become the youngest principal in Colorado secondary school history, and EJ was there, backing him up, supporting him.

Now EJ was here telling him to _leave_. All because of some misguided thought that Gabe was ill.

“It’s just the air. It’s really dry,” Gabe finally said after he’d caught his breath. The second EJ’s hand pulled away from his back, Gabe found himself missing the warmth, but he wouldn’t admit it. Not while EJ was trying to do _this_ to him.

“You’re sick, Landy,” EJ said fondly, pushing Gabe’s hair away from his forehead and pressing the back of his hand to the skin there. Gabe couldn’t help himself, leaning greedily into the touch.

“There’s too much to do,” Gabe argued, voice sounding weak even to his ears.

EJ scoffed. “It’s the week before winter holidays. What can be that important?”

Gabe sat back and frowned up at EJ. “The board is meeting tonight. They want to cut our foreign language department budget in half. _Half_, EJ. Zoey’s been helping out in the guidance office all day because this season is hard for a lot of people, even the students. _Especially_ the students. I need to make sure my bank doesn’t freeze my account again for trying to make this donation which needs to be in by Friday. I have to finish coordinating with the food bank to make sure there are backpacks of food for some of the lower-income students to take home over break and they’re not answering my calls. I haven’t wrapped my secret santa gift for the faculty gift exchange. I have to swing by the post office to mail these letters of recommendation because I’ve got a dozen students who have applied to schools that don’t accept letters electronically. I have to- I have to….”

Gabe shuffled through his folders, one for every item on his to-do list, trying to think of anything he forgot, when EJ’s hand covered his.

“Gabe,” he said firmly, pulling the folders away and tidying them.

Gabe frowned and reached out, but EJ held them out of his reach. “I need-” Gabe started to say, but fell victim to another coughing fit. When it finally stopped, EJ’s hand was on Gabe’s back again and Gabe leaned weakly against EJ’s side, whining pitifully.

“Landy, I need you to do this for me, okay?” EJ’s voice was soft, and he didn’t move his hand off of Gabe’s back. Gabe liked that. “Let me take you home. I’ve got your list here, and all your folders. I’ll make sure everything is done. I’ll meet with the board, I’ll call your bank, I’ll go to the food bank in person to check-in, I’ll wrap your gift and go to the post office, and when I’m done with all of that, I’ll come back up here and grab Zoey from Sam and Colin and then bring her home. And if I have any questions, I promise I’ll call you.”

“S’illegal,” Gabe mumbled, already closing his glassy eyes. EJ was so warm. And he smelled really nice.

EJ was tapping away on his phone with his free-hand, but stopped. “What is?”

“Calling my bank,” Gabe murmured.

EJ shrugged. “I can answer any security questions they have, I’m sure.”

Gabe smiled and nodded. “Yeah.”

* * *

Forty-five minutes later, Gabe was sitting on a plastic chair in the shower, half-heartedly washing up and breathing in the hot, moist air. Eventually, he shut off the shower and slowly got dressed in the clean flannel pajamas EJ had left for him. He’d even left Gabe a fluffy pair of warm socks.

He’d just managed to stumble to the bed when EJ came in with a takeout container.

“You ordered food?” Gabe asked, tilting his head.

“Figured you hadn’t eaten,” EJ answered, voice gruff as he meticulously tucked Gabe into bed, helping him sit up against a small, meticulously-formed mountain of pillows.

He was right, of course, and the chicken noodle soup warmed every part of Gabe that his hot shower hadn’t managed to reach.

* * *

When Gabe woke up, the sun was setting and his front door was opening. He opened his mouth to try and call for EJ, the only person with a key, but his throat was too scratchy and dry. He couldn’t make a sound. He slowly turned over to see the soup had been cleared away from the nightstand.

The gentle clicking of Zoey’s nails on the tile of his hallway made Gabe smile.

“C’mon, pretty girl,” Gabe heard EJ whispering from the hall. “Gotta get your vest off, yeah? You’re done working today. You’ve worked so hard. I’m so proud of you. You’re the very goodest girl, huh? Helping all those people in the guidance office. Sammy and Colin said you did a great job. We’re gonna get your dinner around, yeah?”

Gabe closed his eyes again, falling back into the warm arms of a dreamless sleep.

* * *

It was dark when Gabe woke again. He couldn’t remember what woke him. Zoey was stretched across his feet, sitting up as though something had alerted her, too. He listened carefully, blinking into the dark room. His throat and chest hurt, knowing an intense coughing fit would be coming to start to clear it out, but he found that, even after all that sleep, he didn’t have the energy. And he knew it would _hurt_.

It came anyway, starting with a gentle clearing of his throat and escalating until he was curled up on his side, whimpering between each body-shaking hack. His eyes were watering and, soon, the bed dipped beside him and there was EJ’s hand again. Slow circles on his back.

When the fit had subsided, Gabe relaxed, still curled on his side, resting his cheek on EJ’s trouser-clad thigh. It was a nice thigh. Gabe wished he could properly appreciate it, but he felt like death warmed over.

“You may have been right,” Gabe finally whispered.

EJ chuckled, moving his hand to Gabe’s hair. “Yeah, I know.”

EJ put a few lights on. Then, he fed Gabe more soup, which tasted delicious, and some more medicine, which was significantly less delicious.

“The list?”

EJ huffed, amused, and gently manhandled Gabe so that EJ could lean back against his headboard. Gabe moved his head back so that it was pillowed EJ’s lap, enjoying the comfort of EJ’s long fingers carding through his hair.

“Well, Zo was amazing. I’m gonna take her back in tomorrow, if that’s okay? Sammy and Colin said she was a huge help, but if you would rather her be here, I can-”

“No,” Gabe said, reaching out and squeezing EJ’s calf. “She loves helping people at school. S’why I moved my office next to guidance.”

“Softie,” EJ said without any heat, before he continued. “Meeting was the normal clusterfuck, but I staved off Holly Jolly Bettman. I brought Belley with me to look extra intimidating.”

Gabe chuckled at the mental image of Pierre-Édouard Bellemare, the school’s newest French teacher, sitting next to EJ in his immaculate suit, looking at them with a look that had the worst-behaved students suddenly becoming a paragon of deportment. “But it’s…”

“Tabled. I can’t work miracles like you, but I held him off well enough. And Belley said he’s going to put together some ammo for you with the other language teachers, yeah?”

“I just love you guys,” Gabe grinned into EJ’s thigh.

It was quiet for a moment, then EJ cleared his throat and continued, voice gentle. “Foodbank is all set, they’re dropping off the bags tomorrow morning and I’ll get them to the students by the end of the day. And your bank is all set and your donation went through.”

“Good,” Gabe mumbled into EJ’s pant leg.

“Hey, Landy?” EJ hummed, fingers stilling in his hair for a moment before Gabe felt a thumb run over his jawline.

“Hmm?”

“You wanna tell me why you donated _five hundred dollars _to Borque High School’s women’s diving team?”

“They needed it,” Gabe mumbled sullenly.

Gabe _felt_ EJ’s sigh as much as he heard it. “They’re a _rival_, Landy.”

Gabe shrugged, and pulled EJ’s leg closer, nuzzling against him. “Bettman cut their travel budget. They’re crowdfunding to even go to meets, EJ.”

“_Gabe_,” EJ sighed, something in his tone that Gabe couldn’t quite place.

“Yeah?”

There was a long silence. “Nothing. It’s sweet. I uh…Post office went fine and I wrapped your gift and got it to Grubi before he took his German class caroling around the department.”

“So my to-do?” Gabe mumbled into EJ’s leg.

“All to-done.”

“Yay,” Gabe cheered weakly.

“Yay,” EJ echoed, sounding distracted as his fingers started moving through Gabe’s hair again.

“And you’re sure you can grab Zoey in the morning?” Gabe asked, spying her vest hanging up on its hook beside Gabe’s door.

“Yeah, I can do that,” EJ whispered, sounding like he was as tired as Gabe felt.

Gabe thought for a moment. “Or you can stay here if you want. I have a guest room or-…”

Gabe trailed off, realizing it was probably not a great idea to proposition his vice-principal when a- he was sick, b- he’d never done it before, and c- he wasn’t entirely sure if EJ felt the same, even if he had some inkling. EJ was his best friend, first and foremost. Right alongside of Nate, the school’s hockey coach and phys ed teacher, and Tyson, who taught home ec. But Gabe had known for a long time his feelings toward EJ were a little more than best-friend-ly. But now wasn’t really the time to do anything about it. Soon, though. He would soon.

“Yeah, Gabe. I’ll stay,” Erik Johnson, angel, enigma, support-system, and pain in Gabe’s ass, said, walking into Gabe’s heart without so much as knocking.


End file.
